(think of it as the room that never gets cleaned)

OKC vs. Urban Renewal – Part I

History is amazing, isn’t it? Even more so when it’s not preserved. It becomes like excavating a great civilization or unraveling a mystery. Who knows what the layers of history are hiding? After hours of digging you may find that a locally esteemed hero did not always deserve the pedestal on which he’s placed, or even that your local chain store sits in the middle of what was a large lake! The latter is true of the Walmart at Belle Isle Station. Have you ever wondered why it was called Belle Isle? Where is the “isle” part? Researching the name is how I found part of the story. But there is definitely more to it than an old filled-in lake. It was one of the most popular recreation spots in Oklahoma City in the heyday of the streetcar. It took many hours of research to unravel the whole timeline with…